Bedtime
by Johanna-Luke
Summary: Just a normal night in the household of Francis and Arthur. They're each trying to get Matthew and Alfred, especially Alfred, to go to sleep. Definitely some FrUk and FACE family. Enjoy  .
1. Bedtime

"Arthur, it's about that time." Francis glanced at the clock on the wall.

Arthur sighed, "I suppose it is." He stood up and clapped his hands together, "Boys, it's time to go to bed."

Alfred, the oldest, looked up from the toy soldiers he was playing with, "But I don't wanna go to bed."

"If you go to bed much later you'll be grumpy tomorrow morning, and you know how much Papa likes a grumpy Alfred." Arthur patted his son on the head. Alfred defiantly crossed him arms.

Francis smiled and stood up, "Oui, you are not fun when you're crying and kicking me." He scooped up little Matthew.

"Papa, papa, don't forget Kuma." Matthew reached for the white stuffed bear he always had with him.

Francis tapped Matthew's nose, "Of course not, mon fils. I would never forget him." He reached with a free arm and grabbed the bear off the chair. Matthew took the bear and hugged him.

"Come on Alfred, it's time for bed." Arthur squatted on the floor and started to put

Alfred's soldiers away.

"No! Daddy let go of them! I'm not going to bed! I'm not even tired!" Contrary to this, little

Alfred yawned wide. He tried to grab the soldiers out of Arthur's hands.

Arthur chuckled, "I didn't know yawning was a sign of being wide awake." He ignored the soldiers and scooped up Alfred, who instead of fighting much longer, yawned again and wrapped his arms around Arthur's neck.

Francis followed Arthur through the house and into the bathroom, "Alright mes fils, get ready for bath time."

"But I don't wanna get in the tub." Alfred said sleepily as Arthur set him down. The young boy barely defied his father as Arthur started to undress him. Francis leaned over the tub and turned the water on.

He put the plug in the bottom and turned to Matthew, "Would you like bubbles?"

Matthew nodded, still hugging Kumajiro. Alfred, now fully undressed, climbed into the tub and started splashing.

"Hey, don't do that." Arthur leaned too close and got a face full of water. Alfred and Francis giggled. Arthur glared playfully at Francis as he wiped his face off, "Don't encourage him."

Francis said nothing as he undressed Matthew and placed him in the tub. He opened the bottle of blueberry bubble bath and poured a little in the tub. Matthew laughed gleefully as the bubbles started to form.

Alfred leaned over his brother and grabbed a handful of bubbles, then smeared thick stripes on his forehead, "Look Daddy, I look like you!"

He looked so pleased with himself that Arthur couldn't be angry. Rather he wiped the bubbles off and smeared them on Alfred's chin, "And now you look like Papa!" Alfred beamed at Francis.

Matthew grabbed two handfuls of bubbles and put them on his head, "I look like Kuma!"

Francis laughed and stood up. He rummaged in the closet for a bit and emerged with two towels and a couple rubber duckies, "Here you go." Alfred grabbed a duck and starting making boat noises as he made it swim around. Matthew put the duck on his head and giggled.

Francis set the towels down, grabbed the shampoo and squirted at bit in his hand, "Time to be clean." He rubbed it in Matthew's hair, after removing the duck of course, while Arthur copied him with Alfred.

"Ow! It got in my eyes!" Alfred scrubbed frantically at his left eye.

"Don't rub it, it'll only get worse." Arthur grabbed a clean washcloth and wiped Alfred's eye. "There, that should take care of that." He grabbed the green cup that was always left on the side of the tub and dunked it in the tub. Arthur looked at his son with a mock-serious face, "Now, cover your eyes unless you want soap in them again." Alfred complied, slapping his hands over his eyes.

Matthew watched Alfred, then copied him, laughing. Francis smiled and filled his blue cup, "We wouldn't want it burning your eyes either." Each father dumped the water over the boys heads, placing their hands on their foreheads to keep the soap back. They repeated the action until all the soap was washed out of their hair.

"Okay, one final rinse." Francis winked at the boys. Alfred plugged his nose and took a deep breath. He plunged his head under the water and quickly pulled it back up, smiling broadly.

"I can hold my breath under the water!" He repeated his new trick and when he came up, Francis and Arthur clapped for him.

Matthew looked from Arthur to Francis to Alfred, "Papa? I don't have to do that, do I?" He looked down at the water warily.

Arthur chuckled, "Of course not. Don't worry, your Daddy doesn't like going underwater much either."

Francis grabbed another clean washcloth for Matthew and dunked it in the tub, "Alright, you just need to clean yourself, then it's off to bed."

Alfred, previously enjoying the time in the tub, crossed his arms again, "I'm not going to bed."

"Yes you are." Arthur distracted dunked his washcloth and squirted soap on it. He scrubbed Alfred's head and arms, prying them apart.

"No I'm not!" Alfred splashed water again, successfully soaking Francis and Arthur.

Matthew laughed and splashed too, adding getting more water on the two fathers.

Arthur checked his watch, "It's going to be 8:30 soon, we should start the rest of the process."

Francis smiled and pulled a clean Matthew out of the tub, "Oui, or he'll never go to sleep."

Alfred stuck his tongue out at him, "_You_ don't have to go to bed at nine, why should I?" He pouted and crossed his arms.

Francis patted his head as Arthur lifted him out of the tub, "We are able to get up in the morning without being grumpy. You, however, need the sleep." Francis dried Matthew off and wrapped the towel around him. He picked him up, and Kumajiro of course, and carried the two down the hall to the boys' room. He set Matthew down and rummaged through the blue dresser.

"Here we go mon fils." He held up a pair of yellow footie pajamas and clean underwear. Matthew removed the towel and changed. When he was dressed Francis took the opportunity to tickle him, making the boy giggle loudly.

"Papa! Stop it, that tickles!" Matthew gasped in between breaths. He swatted at Francis's hands with the arm that wasn't holding Kumajiro. Francis continued to tickle him, waiting for Arthur.

"Hey! Get back here!" Francis heard Arthur's voice, but rather than see him, he saw Alfred sprint past the room, on his way to the living room no doubt. Arthur ran past soon after, his hair and shirt dripping. Francis could nearly see little Alfred grabbing a cup and dousing his father.

He patted Matthew on the head, "Wait right here mon fils." Francis ran out of the room and down the hallway. He found Arthur leaning under the kitchen table.

"Come on Alfred. You have to go to bed sometime." Arthur tried to crawl under the table but yelped and back away. He picked up a toy soldier and rubbed his head.

Francis walked to the table and peered underneath, "Now Alfred, that wasn't very nice. Now come out and get dressed."

Alfred pulled the towel closer around himself, "Never! I don't wanna go to bed now!"

Francis crawled under the table and grabbed Alfred's leg, "Ha! I've got you now, mon fils!" He dragged the boy out and tickled him.

Alfred cried out gleefully and kicked his legs, "No! I'm not going to bed!"

Francis picked the boy up and hugged him, "That's what you think." He turned to Arthur, "Did he dump the cup on you again?"

Arthur, who's head and shoulders were soaked, blew a wet piece of hair out of his eyes, "Shut up. I get to bathe Matthew tomorrow."

Francis smiled, "Fine, but I'm going to need more than a goodnight kiss as payment."

Arthur smiled and shushed him, "Not in front of the kid."

They walked back down the hallway to find Matthew sitting in his bed holding Kumajiro, "Daddy, will you tell us a bedtime story?"

Arthur grabbed Alfred's pajamas out of his dresser as Francis set him down, "Of course, just one second while we get the troublemaker into bed."

After Alfred had been dressed and each boy was tucked in, Arthur took his usual seat in a chair that sat in between the beds. Francis sat on the floor with his legs stretched across the space. Arthur always told the boys a story he made up as he said it, so each night was different and Francis never grew bored with hearing them.

Arthur settled himself into the chair, "Once, there was a beautiful princess. She was very sweet and cared for every creature she found. One day, while wandering through the garden, she found a creature she'd never met before. Want to know what it was?"

Matthew and Alfred nodded simultaneously with huge eyes.

"Alright then, what she found was a creature that looked like an average rabbit, but had wings! This little bunny could fly! And he was the same shade of green as mint ice cream. But something was wrong with him. Whenever he tried to fly, he could only flutter his wings feebly. One of them had been broken."

Matthew gasped and pulled his blanket up to cover his face until only his eyes were showing.

"Poor little bunny." Alfred said.

Arthur patted Alfred on the head, "Don't worry, this princess had a friend that could heal anything. One touch from Uni the Unicorn's horn and any creature would be better than new. So the princess scooped up the little flying mint bunny and carried him back to her castle. Now, the castle was absolutely dazzling. It was made of unbreakable glass in every imaginable color. Knights and unicorns guarded the doors and kept the little princess safe."

Francis watched as Arthur told his story. One of the many things about Arthur that had captured his heart was his ability to tell stories and his incredible imagination. Francis knew Arthur really did see his imaginary friends and he loved how his green eyes lit up when he described them for the boys.

Arthur blushed as he caught Francis looking at him, "But the little princess wasn't interested in the unicorns that guarded her castle, she was looking for one unicorn in particular. 'Uni!' she cried, searching the entire castle. She couldn't let the poor bunny be grounded forever. 'Uni, are you here?' she knocked on each door in her castle, searching for her friend."

Alfred sleepily giggled at Arthur's imitation of a girl. As per usual, both Alfred and Matthew's eyes started drooping. They would be asleep soon.

Arthur sighed, "She searched high and low until he found him munching on grass in the garden. 'Uni! Can you help this poor bunny?' Uni turned to the princess, 'Of course I can. Bring him to me and I shall heal him.' The princess did just that. She carefully held up the little bunny as the majestic unicorn gently laid his horn on him. In a flash of light the little bunny was healed and was soon zipping around the princess's head. You know what happened then?"

"What happened?" Matthew asked quietly while yawning. He had already closed his eyes.

"They all lived together forever. The little bunny never got hurt again and the princess gained a new friend to play in her castle with her." Arthur stood up and kissed Matthew on the head, "Goodnight little one." He crossed over as Francis stood up and kissed Alfred on the head too, "Goodnight to you as well."

"Goodnight Daddy." Matthew said sleepily, hugging Kumajiro.

"Night Daddy." Alfred replied, wrapping his arms around his pillow.

Francis kissed Matthew on the head, "Bonne nuit, mon amour." He tucked the blanket in tighter around him.

Matthew sighed, "Goodnight Papa."

He crossed and kissed Alfred on the head, "Bonne nuit, mon amour."

Alfred sighed too and stretched his legs out, "Goodnight Papa."

Francis caught sight of a gray arm sticking out from under the bed, "Don't forget Tony." He said, placing the little alien toy on the bed. Alfred grabbed it and hugged it.

He quietly left the room, meeting Arthur at the door. He grabbed his hand and flicked the light off with the other. They were about to leave when Alfred sat up.

"Wait, you forgot the nightlight. The ghosts will get me."

Arthur sighed and flicked the light back on again. He walked to his chair and turned on the hot air balloon nightlight that was plugged in behind it. He tucked Alfred's blankets around him again. Then he walked back to the door and turned the light off again, "Goodnight."

Francis grabbed Arthur's hand and walked him back down the hallway. He kissed Arthur behind the ear and whispered, "Told you I'd need more than a goodnight kiss, mon amour. Both of them should be asleep soon."

Arthur blushed and wrapped his arm around Francis, "Fine then."

In the next five minutes the two were asleep, too exhausted to do much else.


	2. The Hero

The Hero  
>"Daddy! Papa! Someone heeeeeellllp!" Alfred sprinted through the bedroom door and leapt onto the bed, landing squarely on both the occupants.<br>"Oof! Alfie!" Arthur sat up and pinned the flailing boy's arms to his sides.

Francis opened one eye, "What's the matter?"

Alfred took a deep breath, "Well I guess Mattie was tryin' to sleep an' I just kept talking an' then he told me a story 'bout an evil creature that lurks in the room of kids who don't go to sleep on time. So I said I'm sorry an' tried my best to go to sleep but then I heard a scary sounding noise. I asked Mattie if he heard it an' he said he didn't so I tried to go to sleep again but I kept hearin' it and it sounded like a scratching comin' from under Mattie's bed so I went to check and there was this scary shadow so I ran and hid under my blankets but I kept hearin' the noise so I asked Mattie if he was ok but Mattie didn't answer!" He took another deep breath, "So I ran over to his bed an' pulled back the covers an' he was gone! An' then! An' then I heard him scream in the closet so I went to go find you 'cause he kept screamin' and I think the shadow monster got him 'cause I didn' let him go to sleep on time! You gotta rescue him from the shadow monster!" Satisfied with his story Alfred sat panting. "Well! Are you going to rescue him? You gotta hurry!" Alfred pulled himself out of Arthur's grasp and tugged on his arm. "Come on come on come on come on! We can't let him get eated!"

"It's eaten and I'm getting up!" Arthur knew exactly why Matthew was screaming in the closet. The kid was as conniving as his Papa sometimes. Arthur yawned and swung himself out of bed. Alfred was already running to the other side. Francis had chosen not to get up yet and had curled farther under the blankets.

"Papa Papa Papa Papa Papa! Get up! We need to save Mattie!" His tiny little hands flew furiously as he pounded Francis's back region. "Wake up!"

Arthur swore he heard Francis snickering. He rolled out of bed only to be dragged out of the room by Alfred. Arthur quickly followed, trying his best to match the breakneck speed of his oldest son.

The trio raced into the boys' room to find Matthew fast asleep on his bed. His blankets were tucked up around his and Kuma's heads and Arthur could hear him softly snoring.

Alfred gasped and let go of Francis's hand, "Mattie! The shadow monster didn't eat you!" He hugged his brother, successfully waking him up.

"Alfie? What are you doin'? I was sleepin'." Matthew groggily turned to look at Alfred. "What are Papa and Daddy doin' here?"

"Mattie! You were screaming! And I thought you were dead and stuff! I went an' got them so we could rescue you!" He shook his brother excitedly.

"Alfie... Alfie! Stop it, I'm fine." Mattie rubbed his eyes. "The shadow monster let me go 'cause I told him why I couldn' sleep." Mattie appeared to fall back asleep, leaning his head on Alfred's shoulder.

Alfred carefully set him down and turned with enormous eyes to his parents, "HE'S GOING TO EAT ME!" He jumped onto his own bed and pulled the covers over him.

Arthur sighed wearily and sat on the edge of the bed, "Alfred, nothing's going to eat you."

There was something muffled from under the bed then Alfred curled tighter into a ball.

Francis smiled, "Would you like me to check in the closet?"

A pair of huge blue eyes emerged from the blanket, "You would do that? But...but it'll eat you! An' I don't wanna lose my Papa!"

"Don't worry! No shadow monster can eat me! I went to sleep on time!" Francis stood at his full height and walked to the closet door, ignoring the snicker from Arthur. He slowly pulled open the door and peeked behind it.

"See anything Papa? Don't let it eat you." Alfred still refused to let more than his eyes out from under the blanket.

"Non, you have nothing to worry about Alfred. There is no shadow monster there as far as I can see." He opened the door all the way, causing Alfred to burrow into the blankets, to prove his point. There was nothing there other than a collection of jackets, toys and shoes strewn about messily, with one or two things actually placed where they belong.

"O-ok Papa. But what if he comes back when you leave. An' what about the shadow under Mattie's bed? Monsters are afraid of parents an' really good at hidin' an stuff! He's just going to come back an' eat me later!" The fully freaked out Alfred started bawling and slid back under his blanket.

It was Arthur's turn to try something. He stood up and flicked the light on, earning a small groan from Matthew. "There, he shouldn't come back now. Shadow monsters are deathly afraid of the light because it eats them." He went and sat back on Alfred's bed and hugged him. "Besides, you don't have to be afraid of monsters! They wouldn't be able to touch the hero! Any monster that comes in this room would be shaking in their shoes at the sight of you!"

"You really think so?" Alfred asked quietly, "I did see a shadow though."

"Of course! A monster wouldn't dare mess with a hero. And I'll check, but I think I took care of him." Arthur set Alfred back down and tucked him back in. He kissed his forehead and crossed to Matthew's bed. "Goodnight to you too. I know you're still awake." He peered under the bed and nearly burst out laughing. The "shadow" was really Tony, who'd somehow made his way across the room.

Matthew smiled sleepily and rolled over, "Night Daddy."

Arthur walked back to Alfred's bed, "I think this will help you sleep better."

Alfred smiled and hugged the alien.

Francis shut the closet door and yawned, "Goodnight you two." He followed after Arthur to tuck the boys back into bed, making sure to tuck Tony in too.

Arthur flicked the light off and led the way back to the bedroom. He flopped onto the bed, "Matthew is a strange kind of younger brother."

Francis chucked, "Remind you of anyone?"

"Shut up frog." Arthur hugged Francis, hoping Alfred wouldn't wake him up again.

"DADDY! MATTIE TOLD ME THAT GHOSTS AREN'T AFRAID OF HEROES! YOU GOTTA HELP ME!" Alfred's voice rang through the house again.

Arthur groaned, "That kid's never going to sleep again at this rate."

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A/N

Mattie = secretly evil. We all knew it was true . This is his way of telling Alfred to stfu already 'cause he's trying to sleep. This is kinda a random update to this but I was listening to Goodnight Demon Slayer one morning and had this brilliant idea for Arthur to have to rescue Alfred from normal childhood fears of the dark. So yeah, for those who already liked this, enjoy my random brain.


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